Description
Eddie O’Donnell (Golden, Co. Tipperary, Ireland) uses PastureBase Ireland Performance (www.pbi.ie) to identify the number of grazings, number of silage cuts, annual tonnage DM grass per hectare, number of grassland measurements, growth curve, decisions, reseeding etc. that is being performed on his dairy farm.
The farmer is focusing on soil fertility, which is the key to growing and utilising quality grass (lime, P and K). The farmer has spread lime to have a pH of 6.2 – 6.5 on the farm and low index paddocks were targeted with slurry and compound fertiliser to increase the soil index (soil results are based on soil index’s on P & K from 1-4, 1 being poor and 4 being high) on the farm. Traditionally, there were pigs on the farm, so indexes were generally 3 or 4 in the past, as a result of the pig slurry.
The motivation of the farmer was to produce as much milk from grass as possible to minimise the cost of production and to minimise workload on the farm. The farmer does this by measuring grass all year round, turning out cows to pasture in early spring, compact spring calving system and focusing on soil fertility and reseeding. The farm system comprises a spring calving herd, feeding 500 kg meal/cow/year and growing 18 t DM grass/ha.
Future strategy:
- Continue to grow as much grass per hectare and produce milk solids and build a reserve of silage for the farm
- Grass is the cheapest source of feed on the farm, so continue to focus on it rather than alternative feeds
- Continue to use the EBI (Economic Breeding Index) to breed a cow that will go in calf every year and produce quality milk solids from grass
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